After several previous battles, the Ming army found that the plate armor of the cavalry was lined with silk, and the defensive effect on bows and guns was much stronger than that of cotton armor, but the weight was lighter.

Therefore, Zhu Linwei had ordered the Ordnance Bureau to make a large number of plate armor to equip the infantry, but because of the low weight-bearing capacity of the infantry, it was only equipped with cuirass and helmets, which were more than seven or eight catties lighter than half-body cotton armor, and the combat efficiency was greatly improved. Zhu Linmiao remembered that there were statistics in later generations that the probability of being shot in the torso and head in the war was more than 85%, and most of the damage could be avoided with only the cuirass, which was the highest efficiency and weight-to-weight ratio.

The Ming army flag in front opened the way, and when the three most elite battalions of the Longwei Army followed behind walked more than ten steps away from the viewing platform, the officer waved his sword and shouted, "According to the gun!" Positive step - go! ”

All the soldiers immediately repeated the order loudly, and then placed the fire gun on the right side of their body in unison, pointed upwards with the mouth of the gun, and at the same time took a strong step, and immediately the parade ground sounded the sound of clicking and clattering, like a giant slowly approaching.

Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu behind Zhu Linmiao looked stunned, and several huge dark green phalanxes came like a whole. They couldn't see the weapons and equipment of the Dragon Guard Army clearly, but they were first deeply shocked by the mighty military appearance and momentum - the queue was horizontal and vertical, as if there was an invisible ruler to measure. The angle at which each soldier's muzzle is pointed, the distance of his steps, and even the height of his feet are exactly the same, which shows the essence of training!

Liu Wenxiu sighed secretly in his heart, originally thought that the imperial court dismissed more than 14,000 attached soldiers because of its suspicion of the Great Western Army, but now it seems that eighty percent of it is because the imperial court does not look down on its own soldiers at all. Compared with the Dragon Guard Army in front of him, even if the five thousand people carefully selected from the Great Western Army are only enough to carry shoes for others at most......

Li Dingguo on the side was also shocked, and immediately noticed the equipment of the Long Wei Army, and couldn't help but whisper to Deng Shan on the left: "Commander, the style of the firearm used by the army is very strange, and the mouth of the gun is still equipped with a short sword?" ”

Deng Shan lowered his voice without squinting: "This is a type of infantry gun, it belongs to the rifled gun, and the one on the mouth of the gun is a bayonet, which can be removed ......" He found that one or two sentences were not clear at all, "In short, this gun can break cotton armor a hundred steps away, and the head is extremely high, and there is almost no false hair, it is made by the current saint's personal drawing." ”

He smacked his lips with some regret, "This gun has just been made, and it is only for the Dragon Guard." However, there are Type 2 Hunters in my battalion, and they are not much different, so I will take you to see them after the big parade. ”

100 steps to break the armor! Almost nothing! Li Dingguo was about to ask again, when he suddenly heard the officer on the parade ground shouting another order, "To the right - look!" ”

While all the soldiers repeated the order, their heads instantly turned to the location of the Great Tomorrow, and the movements neatly made Li Dingguo's heart tremble.

And Zhu Linmiao had already gotten up, and at this time he responded with a military salute. These are the soldiers he brought up single-handedly, and he has no good attitude towards these warriors of the Ming Dynasty.

In front of the three elite infantry battalions passing through the viewing platform, the other infantry of the Dragon Guard and the infantry of the Broken Battalion came in a mighty manner. Of course, some soldiers were selected as representatives, otherwise it would be too time-consuming for tens of thousands of horses to go through.

The more than 2,000 infantry were followed by three twelve-pounder guns, each towed by eight horses, and the artillerymen who operated the guns sat on top of two specially made four-wheeled wagons, in which gunpowder, shells, and artillery spare parts were loaded at their feet.

Li Dingguo had never heard of the idea of "cavalry artillery" and was shocked by the way in which all the artillery, personnel, and equipment were hauled by horses, but it was really difficult to murmur to Deng Shan anymore, so he had to press it in his heart and ask about it when the parade was over.

However, Zhu Linmiao noticed that a five- or six-foot-high, slightly inclined iron plate had been added to all the gun mounts, and turned his head and whispered to Zhang Jiayu: "That's the new cannon shield, right?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, according to your orders, the heavy artillery is equipped with a ninety-eight pound iron shield, and the small cannon is equipped with a sixty-pound iron shield."

Zhu Linmiao nodded slightly, adding a cannon shield to the cannon is also one of the key points of recent improvements. Don't underestimate this piece of iron, relying on the scientific appearance can greatly reduce the casualties of the gunner. Especially when the cannon is used intensively, a large number of cannon shields can be combined to form a fortress-like effect, and the infantry can even hide behind the cannon shields and shoot outward. In the past, the situation in which artillery positions were scattered by infantry and cavalry could be greatly improved.

In the middle were several nine- and six-pounder cannons and thirty-two-pounder mortars passing through the viewing platform, and at the back were as many as twenty Furlong cannons.

These Franc cannons are divided into two models: the smaller one is the traditional No. 1 Franc machine, which weighs 300 catties and fires one catty shells. The big one was streamlined from a thousand-pound Franc machine, which weighed 650 pounds and fired two pounds and three taels of shells.

After the Battle of Jurong, the Ming army was full of praise for the Franc cannon equipped with a sealing ring - it was lightweight, extremely flexible, and had an astonishingly high rate of fire. Although the firing range is not comparable to that of the cannon, it can also fight more than a mile, and it is very easy to deal with Jianyu infantry and cavalry.

It was Zhu Linmiao who ordered the Ordnance Bureau to cast as many as 100 Franc cannons for the Long Guard Army and the Broken Battalion, and in view of the shortcomings of the No. 1 Franc machine that was not strong enough, a new 600-pound Franc machine was designed. These cannons were light and lucky, took up a small number of horses and artillery, and did not put too much burden on the gunners, but they provided extremely dense firepower.

In particular, the breech loading of the Franc cannon allowed all artillery officers to operate behind the shield at all times, and unless the enemy rushed to the front of them in hand-to-hand combat, they had little temper against them.

Liu Wenxiu sighed quietly: "These cannons look very powerful, but they are a little less numerous......"

Hearing this, Sun Qi turned his head and whispered: "This is just a review of all kinds of cannons, the Dragon Guard and the Broken Camp now have eight twelve-pound cannons, a total of more than sixty six-pound and nine-pounder "small cannons", and hundreds of Franc machine guns!" ”

Liu Wenxiu guessed that the so-called 12-pound, 9-pound, and the like were the cannons that passed by the field just now, and those were at least more than 1,500 pounds of heavy artillery, where are there any "small cannons"?!

Nearly seventy respect cannons! His chest throbbed with excitement, and the scene of dense cannons roaring in unison and slamming the Tartars in unison appeared in his mind.

Nowadays, with the production capacity of Fujing and Nanjing Ordnance Bureaus and Longnan Iron Yard, it is quite easy to cast dozens of cannons. In fact, compared to the army, the ships of the naval division that often had to carry more than 30 guns were the main ones. Moreover, the sailors asked for eighteen or even twenty-four pound cannons, and the army's strongest twelve-pounder cannon seemed to them to be only at the "entry" level.

The Ming Dynasty can now cast nearly 30 heavy cannons of more than 12 pounds and more than 50 small artillery pieces a month, but even so, sometimes it is necessary to place orders from the Bugarao Artillery Factory in Macao to meet the needs of the sailors.